1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a polishing mechanism, and more particularly to a polishing mechanism provided with a robot and a rotational positioning device for treating a vehicle bumper.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Robots have been widely used in machining processing, such as drilling, cutting, welding, assembling and painting. However, there is still a need of break-through for some machining processing to reach a better result. For example, a vehicle bumper plays a great role in the aesthetic outward appearance of a vehicle and is designed to accommodate to the overall design of the vehicle so as to reach a maximum aesthetic effect. So, the bumper generally includes a plurality of contours in combination with a plurality of angular shapes. This inevitably brings a complex machining process for the bumper, especially in the polishing process. On the other hand, when the bumper is formed by a pressing process from sheet metal, different surfaces may have different planarity. Accordingly, different polishing processes are required to reach a uniform surface. This creates a complex situation for automatic polishing process for the bumper.
Therefore, the polishing process of the bumper is still performed manually which is really not suitable for mass production. In addition, operators usually check the surface planarity visually. Even the surface planarity can be finally achieved, this is really not an effective way. Furthermore, dusts and debris generated during the polishing process will also bring a negative influence to the operators.
Consequently, a primary object of the present invention is to provide a polishing apparatus incorporating with a multi-shaft robot, a polishing wheel, a polishing wheel detecting device for polishing a vehicle bumper.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a polishing mechanism equipped with a rotational positioning device capable of positioning the vehicle bumper in a position within a working range of said robot. The positioning device mainly comprises a pair of supporting racks, a main shaft rotationally arranged between said supporting racks, a carrying rack arranged on said main shaft, and a plurality of holding devices arranged on said carrying rack for fixedly holding said vehicle bumper in position; and
In order to achieve the object set forth, a polishing mechanism for vehicle bumper in accordance with the present invention comprises a multi-shaft robot having a polishing wheel rotationally attached to an end thereof. A rotational positioning device is provided for positioning a bumper in a position within a working range of the robot. The positioning device includes a pair of racks, a main shaft rotationally arranged between the racks and capable of being positioned to a desired angle, a carrying rack arranged on the main shaft, and a plurality of holding devices arranged on the carrying rack for fixedly holding the bumper in position. A detecting device is provided for checking the worn-out of the polishing wheel for adjusting an optimum distance between the polishing wheel and the bumper.
According to one aspect of the present invention, the polish mechanism further includes a piloting gauge attached to the robot for conveniently determining an appropriate distance between the polishing wheel and the bumper.